Kobali

Notes

On Stardate 51563 Voyager crew member Ensign Lyndsay Ballard was killed by a Hirogen hunting party whilst on an away mission with Ensign Kim. Ballard was given a burial in space, as is normal for Starfleet personnel.

Two years later, Voyager received a communication from an alien woman who claimed to be Ensign Ballard. The woman knew intimate details of Voyager and her crew, leaving Captain Janeway in little doubt that this was in fact her long dead crew member.

Ballard revealed that she had been retrieved from her coffin in space and reanimated by a species called the Kobali. The Kobali spent months altering her DNA in order to reform her in their image, this being their normal method of reproducing themselves. Eventually she had been placed with a Kobali family who would help her to make the adjustment to their society. Ensign Ballard had spent two years - Kobali years - gaining the Kobali's trust before stealing a shuttlecraft and setting off to find Voyager.

Voyager's EMH was unable to reverse the changes the Kobali had made. Her blood contained a genetic pathogen which had converted most of her DNA into a Kobali protein structure, leaving insufficient Human DNA to reconstruct the original pattern. She had a six lobed multispheric brain housed within an enlarged cranium, a binary cardiovascular system and two tone grey and purple skin. The EMH was able to make cosmetic changes which returned Ensign Ballard to a Human appearance.

The Ensign suffered considerable difficulty in settling back in to life on Voyager. She continued to think in Kobali and to miss the relationships she had established with her surrogate family. When the Kobali located Voyager and attacked the ship Ballard volunteered to return with them, saying she no longer felt at home on Voyager.

Voyager has thus far had no further contact with the Kobali. If is not known how far their territory spreads, although it must be at least thousands of light years for them to have kept pace with Voyager.1